The Era of Good Feeling
by Touch of Grey
Summary: Because damnit, Yera deserved to be in the Reboot. So here's a twist to bring our favorite lady Durlan into the 90's. And what a twist!
1. Chapter 1

A brief history of the family Era:

Drinos Era was one of the few remaining bakers that believed that an automatic kitchen was an abomination, so in the year 2937, he opened up the first human-staffed bakery in over six centuries, the Era of Good Pastries. Eventually, he decided that he was too old to be waking up at four in the morning to go to work, so he passed the store down to his son Orron, who went on to pass the business on to his son Takir. Currently, Takir Era and his wife, Selene, are on a universewide journey of discovery in order to learn new recipes. They've left the store in the hands of their very capable 15-year-old daughter, Symph, and their less than capable 26-year-old son, Tyr.

And now, our story begins...

She would later blame the entire thing on her brother.

The hierarchy of the Era of Good Pastries was a simple one: Symph bakes the cakes, Tyr delivers the cakes. Their business was slow enough that they'd never needed to hire additional help from outside the family, but busy enough that the two of them were on their feet from opening to closing.

After his fifteenth delivery of the day, Symph received a message that Tyr would _not_ be finishing his shift, for his wife had just gone into labor. Ever the even-headed one, Symph simply clocked him out and wished him the best of luck. She would have closed shop completely and gone to join her brother at the hospital had it not been for two things: there were still three cakes that were almost finished (that would now need to be delivered by her personally), and it was a well-known fact that Tyr's wife was not in any way fond of her husband's family. So the shop stayed open.

Before leaving on her deliveries, Symph put the holophone on auto-record for incoming orders, switched the sign to "on delivery", and turned off the main ovens. It was rare that she got out at all during the day, so Symph savored the feel of the wind in her hair as her ancient delivery bike sputtered along. The bike was in a state of disrepair, as she hadn't used it since taking over for her father as head baker fourteen months prior. The oil needed changing, and the hover mechanism seemed to be on the fritz. She resolved to do matinence on her bike once the shop closed for the day.

The first two deliveries went smoothly. A birthday cake (she'd been invited to stay for the party, but politely declined), and a very...rudely-shaped cake for a bachelorette party that would take place later in the evening (once again, she'd been invited to the party, but Symph was simply too embarrassed to do more than quickly shake her head). However, it is a law of the universe that good things can never last.

The third cake was to be delivered to the largest bank in Metropolis, the City Bank. Apparently, one of the tellers was retiring, and his co-workers had wanted to do something nice for him. The actual delivery had been no problem at all, but as she was leaving the office and crossing the lobby...

"Nobody move! We're robbing this bank!"

There were seven armed gunman in all ('Lucky number seven.', her mind noted), and two of them seemed to be metahuman, not that it mattered. One of the smart tellers pressed the silent alarm. One of the smarter tellers pressed the Legion alert button.

Within five minutes, the outside of the bank was swarming with Sci-cops. Another minute passed, and then the Legion (or at least a quarter of it, from what she could see) arrived as well.

"Tell those Legion sprocks that we've got hostages! And that we're not afraid to start popping them!"

It was probably the worst, most generic robber-speak she'd ever heard. Symph nearly laughed at the absurdity of it all. And then armed metahuman gunman number 4 grabbed her by the hair.

"How about this piece, right here? She's a pretty little thing. The Sci-cops won't let us shoot her. They'll let us walk, so long as we keep her with us." Armed non-metahuman gunman number 6 shuffled his feet.

"I dunno, Arno. She's a kid. I've got a kid around her age. If it comes down to it, I don't think I could shoot no kid." Armed metahuman gunman number 4, Arno, snorted.

"And who said you'd have to shoot her, Rossin? I picked up the hostage, I'll shoot the hostage. It ain't rocket sci- yaaaugh!"

While the robbers been talking amongst themselves, several Legionnaires had managed to sneak in. Symph found herself lifted out of her captor's grip and cradled in the elbow of a giant, while her captor, Arno, dangled from his other hand.

"You see what you get when you threaten pretty girls? And attempt to rob banks? I hope you guys like to travel, because it's a pretty long trip from here to Takron-Galtos." The giant smiled down at her, and Symph took a moment to notice just how brown his eyes were. Like two giant pools of melted chocolate. "Are you okay, miss?" she straightened her hair and wiped the dust off the front of her apron (she'd forgotten to take off her apron before leaving the shop?! How unprofessional!).

"I am fine. Feel free to put me down at any time. But keep on shaking the guy that put a gun to my head. That's just awesome." He laughed, and she felt it reverberate throughout her entire body.

"A hostage with a sense of humor! I love it! You're a sight for sore spirits miss, ah..?" she blinked. Oh, he wanted her to supply her name.

"Symph. Symph Era. My card." she pulled a business card from one of her pockets.

"The Era of Good Pastries?"

"Family business. I'm the baker. We make cakes, pastries, breads. Pretty much anything with carbs. And all our food is made by actual people. We're the only non-automatic bakery in all of Metropolis." Symph stopped herself there, realizing that she'd gone into auto-sales pitch mode. "I was here making a delivery. I should get back to the shop." the giant put her down, then shrank down to her height. No, taller than her, but a more manageable size than he'd once been. "Thank you for saving my life. Goodbye."

And with that, Symph Era left the City Bank, hopped on her ancient delivery bike, and set off for the store, leaving a very confused Legionnaire in her wake.

To Be Continued.

I was feeling very Legion-y, but I wasn't in the mood to write any more Threeboot Brainy/Lyle or cartoon Garth/Imra. So I turned to my own little planetary chance machine and it told me "When in doubt, create a character.". And Symph Era was born.

See, I've always been fond of Colossal Boy (because I'm a sucker for big guys, I'm not ashamed to admit it.), and one of my all-time favorite characters is his wife, Yera. So when I read the Reboot and the Threeboot and she didn't show up in either of them, I was very sad. Then I noticed something. Some of the characters that showed up in the original series showed up in the Reboot, but slightly off. Chuck Taine: Janitor and Tenzil the chef for instance. So I thought to myself, why not bring Yera into the Reboot with a twist? With that thought, Yera the wannabe Durlan actress became Symph Era the human baker. My next challenge after this gets done is finding a way to bring Yera and Symph into the Threeboot, and after that, bringing them all together in the Legion of Three Worlds.

It's nice to have goals. It's nice to have dreams. Praise the gourd, pass the cyanide, review, and stay tuned for the next chapter. Ciao.


	2. Chapter 2

It wasn't that she was a cold person. It was just the fact that she was only fifteen, yet she already had her entire life planned out. Work part-time in the shop until her father made her the official head baker and owner of the store, then abduct her brother's child and teach it the ways of the whisk. Finding her own romances simply didn't factor in to her plans.

So why in Valor's name was the giant here again?!

The day after the debacle at the bank, the giant that shrank (or the man that grew, depending on how you looked at him.) showed up at the store looking to buy a box of cookies. The next day, brownies. The third day, he brought friends.

The blonde wore the mandatory Titan ID, her redheaded companion was grabbing one of everything, and their brunette friend was looking around the shop in a combination of wonder and amusement.

"You know, you could probably get a lot more business if you brought in a few robots to do deliveries and help in the kitchen." he eventually said, when she was bringing more powdered doughnuts out of the kitchen.

"And where would the fun be then?" Symph replied. He was quiet a moment, then began to laugh.

"Gim was right. You've got a great sense of accidental humor." she didn't even bother to answer, choosing instead to go help the blonde, who was looking into the pastry case with interest.

"May I help you?"

"Did you know that we have a personal chef at Legion headquarters? And that the headquarters itself is within walking distance of three different bakeries? And yet Gim has flown completely across the city for snacks three days in a row now. Isn't that odd?"

"The food made here is often considered much better than food made in automatic bakeries. May I help you?" without even looking up, the blonde replied,

"Yes, I think I'd like the eclair, Garth will be putting back everything but the box of peanut butter cookies _if he knows what's good for him_, Lyle is just being rude, and Gim likes you." Symph blinked at the sudden barrage of information.

"These are just for display, I'll get a fresh one for you out of the back, I'll ring the cookies up in a moment with your eclair, I really wasn't bothered by it, and if he likes me so much, he can ask me out himself." As she headed back into the kitchen, Symph heard the blonde Titanite say to the giant,

"I _like_ her. And if the eclair is as good as those brownies were, I'll like her even more."

The blonde, redhead, and brunette had left the store by the time she got back with the eclair, leaving the giant that shrank with their credits alone at the register. Symph rang him up, putting the wrapped eclair and box of cookies in a bag and handing it to him as he gave her his money.

"I'm sorry about Imra. She's sort of...direct. And Lyle thinks he's good with business, just because he invented a bunch of stuff and sold it. So, um," he was stalling. And she had no time for stuff like that.

"If there's nothing else, I need to get back into the kitchen. My brother will be back to deliver a cake that I've yet to make very soon." she turned to head back to work.

"Would you like to go to the holos with me tomorrow?!" he shouted at her, ears completely red. Symph turned back around.

"Sure. Would you like to meet me there, or should I give you my address?" the giant's mouth fell open.

"You, you'll go?" Symph furrowed her brow slightly.

"I just said I would, yes. Would you like to meet me here? The holo-cinema isn't very far away from here." The giant was smiling from ear to ear.

"That sounds great, yeah. And we could get something to eat before. And after, there's a pretty cool dance place nearby, if you like to dance. I'm Gim, by the way. Gim Allon." Symph allowed a rare, non-businesslike smile to cross her face.

"Sounds like you've got quite a night planned for us tomorrow, Gim Allon. But I really do need to bake that cake, so if you don't mind..?" he picked up the bag of treats and nearly sprinted towards the door.

"Right! I'm gone! You won't regret saying yes, Symph! See you tomorrow!" And with a near-blinding smile, he was out the door.

"Bye, Gim." She smiled to herself as she poured the standing batter into a pan. "I have a date, what do you think of that?"

To Be Continued.

Tyr will be showing up again next chapter as the overprotective brother. Also, how many Legionnaires does it take to ruin a date? Review, if you will.


	3. Chapter 3

"You have a _what_?!"

Symph sighed, continuing to knead the dough that would soon be a delicious loaf of bread.

"A date, Tyr. They're not something unheard of. In fact, you used to have a different date every night until you knocked up Toria." Tyr ground his teeth, pulling at the cuffs of his jacket.

"That's different! I'm not a teenage girl! And what do you know about dating, anyway? You never went on dates when you were in school. You just sat around reading files about cooking and listening to ancient music recordings."

"I know that I'm not required to do anything, and that if the guy attempts to initiate anything, it's perfectly acceptable to punch him in the kidneys." a fond smile passed over her brother's face.

"That's my girl! And don't be afraid to aim for the nuts. Or carry a hammer in your purse. I can get you a hammer. Or you could just use one of the ancient tenderizing mallets dad has on display back home. I won't tell."

"Tyr, I love you. But if you don't stop trying to 'help' me on my date, I'll pull a 20th century slapstick act and hit you in the face with a pie." Tyr raised his hands, as if to protect himself from the rhetorical pie. "Thank you. Now take this box of miscellaneous treats to the civic center. Or I'll bash you in the head with a rolling pin." his eyes widened.

"You're secretly an Amazon warrior, aren't you? That's where this violent streak is from, isn't it? You may not want to tell your boyfriend about that on the first date, save a tidbit like that for later."

"He's not my boyfriend!" But Tyr simply grinned and disappeared through the back door, just as the customer bell rang. Symph exhaled sharply, pushing a lock of hair back into place. "Excellent timing, brother dearest." Plastering on a smile, Symph left the kitchen. "Can I help- Legion?"

She was not exaggerating. There were at least thirteen people in the shop, and all of them were poking around and picking out various snacks.

"Areyouthegirlthatmadethecookies?!" a darkly tanned young woman rushed up to her. After deciphering what she'd said, Symph tentatively answered,

"Yes?"

Every eye in the room was on her. She felt like one of the legendary Beatles in their heyday. Symph began to slowly back towards the kitchen.

"Ifoundthegirl! Shemadethecookies! She'stheone!"

They mobbed her as one. The poor girl never stood a chance.

"Do you make everything yourself?"

"The éclair was delicious. So were the brownies. And the cookies. I suggested firing Tenzil and hiring you, would you be interested?"

"IfyoumarryGim,wouldtherestofusgetfreecookiesforever?"

Symph felt her back hit a wall. She whimpered. The wall picked her up.

"Hey now! I agreed to bring you here on the condition that you don't embarrass me. Mobbing a baker is considered embarrassing where I come from." The assembled Legionnaires looked sheepish.

"Sorry, big guy."

"Yeah, Gim, we're sorry." The giant, Gim, cast a mockingly stern eye at his friends.

"If I put her down, will you leave her be?" Symph cleared her throat.

"You will put me down regardless of what your friends do. I don't appreciate being hauled around like a sack of flour." His face fell, and Symph felt her heart clench slightly. "Though I suppose you were only doing what you felt was necessary to keep me safe, which is very kind of you. Now put me down before I freak out and start throwing things."

Always one to have perfect timing, Tyr entered the store just in time to see a giant with hands around his sister's waist.

"Hands off the merchandise, buddy!" Symph blew a stray strand of hair off her face. "Symph! Go back into the kitchen, I'll handle this guy."

Completely ignoring her brother, as she was oft to do, Symph instead put both hands on Tyr's chest and began to push him into the back of the store. "All is well, feel free to keep browsing. _Go go go and if you embarrass me Valor help you I'll…_"

Once in the safety of the kitchen, Symph picked up an empty pie tin and began to repeatedly strike her brother with it.

"Ow! Ow! What's the big idea, Symph! Ow! Knock it off!"

"He wasn't hurting me, none of them were! Gim is a very nice giant! We are going to the holos tonight! And you are just going to sit on your thumbs and shut up about it!" she set the (now completely misshapen) pie tin back down on the counter, smoothed down her unruly hair, and walked out into the shop.

"If anyone has anything that they'd like to purchase, please see me at the counter, thank you."

To Be Continued.

Okay, I lied. The date will be two chapters long, because dinner and a movie are one thing, but going to a busy club in one of the world's biggest cities on a Friday night is another thing completely. The question still stands, though: how many Legionnaires does it take to ruin a date?


End file.
